Product, Service & Design Innovation
The latest products, services, design approaches and business models that are helping organizations of all sizes deliver on their sustainability ambitions and establish a new business as usual.
Chipotle, FoodBytes! Unveil Newest Classes of Food, Ag Innovators
Two startup accelerators highlight the latest startup solutions poised to disrupt our food system for good.
That’s the Spirit: Optimizing the Inputs, and Outputs, of Alcohol
Cross-Posted from Supply Chain. Players large and small are innovating to optimize what goes into — and comes out of — alcohol production.
EPR in Action: TerraCycle, CPG Giants Close ‘Loop’ on Single-Use Packaging
First-of-its-kind, global shopping platform aims to offer zero-waste packaging options for the world’s most popular consumer products.
New Reports Highlight How AI, Circular Economy Can Save Us All
Cross-Posted from The Next Economy. Circle Economy, Ellen MacArthur Foundation release new findings in Davos
2019 Circulars Honor 7 Disruptors Unlocking Value from $4.5T Circular Economy
Cross-Posted from The Next Economy. 5th annual awards received highest-ever number of applicants competing for circular economy recognition.
Why Entrepreneurs, Not CPG Giants, Will Lead Us to ‘Earth-Functional Foods’
New report uses the term “Earth-Functional Foods” to describe food that provides environmental benefits beyond health.
CES Tech for a Better World: Insights on Innovation and Social Purpose
With the 2019 Tech for a Better World honorees, CES makes the statement that technology should positively impact humanity and the natural world.
How Smart Tech Is Bringing Toilets to the Masses Across the Developing World
Did you hear the story of the little girl in India who called the police to report her dad over a toilet?
Trending: More Big Brands Get Behind Plant-Based Burger Bonanza
Two recent, industry-changing announcements from food giants Carl’s Jr. and Nestlé mean more dining options for health- and environment-conscious consumers that might not violate their New Year’s resolutions.
Trending: BASF, Coca-Cola, EC Break New Ground on Plastics Recycling
Continuing this year’s wave of near-constant innovations aimed at responsible management of post-consumer plastics are new advancements from both the private and public sector. BASF making products with chemically recycled plastics BASF announced it has broken new ground in plastic waste recycling with its ChemCycling project. Chemical recycling provides an innovative way to reutilize currently unrecyclable plastic waste, such as mixed or uncleaned plastics. Depending on the region, such waste is usually sent to landfill or burned with energy recovery.
Give More This Season: The 2018 SB Holiday Gift Guide
What better way to commemorate the season of giving than with gifts that really give more － by improving ecosystems, business practices and financial security; and eliminating waste, pollution and carbon emissions around the world － while spreading holiday cheer? Here are just a few of our favorite discoveries this year of products we'd be proud to give. For sustainable urban active-ists
Plastic, Be Gone! Unilever, Stora Enso Developing Better Sachets, Straws
This week, more momentum on the anti-plastic front: Unilever will develop a crowdsourced, plastic-free laundry solution to combat single-use sachets; while Stora Enso and Sulapac are developing renewable drinking straws. Unilever to invest €100K in crowdsourced alternative to plastic packaging CPG giant Unilever has announced that it will invest €100,000 in a new, plastic-free laundry tablet — a crowdsourced innovation that has the potential to replace single-use sachets of laundry powder, a popular format for laundry detergents in the developing world that is problematic in terms of plastic waste.
All New 3M Products to Include Sustainability Value
US-based multinational 3M launches approximately 1,000 new products each year; starting in 2019, 100 percent of them will have sustainability built in: Today, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24), 3M announced its first formal requirement that, beginning in 2019, all new products will include a Sustainability Value Commitment that demonstrates how they drive impact for the greater good.
Kickstarter, EDF Partner to Push for Better Product Development
Kickstarter PBC and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today unveiled new features on Kickstarter aimed at helping innovators evaluate and reduce the environmental impact of their products from the concept stage. Kickstarter and EDF worked together to develop an information hub called the Environmental Resource Center, as well as a space where project creators are asked to publicly commit to environmental practices. These features will help thousands of people create sustainable products by embedding environmental considerations into the early planning stages.
Geomimicry: Reversing the Great Sequestration
This is the third in a four-part series on geomimicry by renowned author and George Mason University professor Dr. Gregory C. Unruh. Read parts one and two.
Meet the Plant-Based Protein Poised to Sustainabilize the Food Industry
Along with a wave of plant-based meat innovations from startups such as Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods and Right Treat, which are giving the meat industry a run for its resource-intensive money, a new plant protein solution could further revolutionize the food industry.
SAMBAZON, Ecology Center Seeking College Students with Purposeful Business Ideas
SAMBAZON — the first company to bring organic açaí to the U.S. — and The Ecology Center, a non-profit eco-educational center, have launched their second annual Greenhouse Initiative.
Mimicking Nature, But Not as Nature Intended: An Introduction to Geomimicry
This is the first in a series of posts by Dr. Gregory Unruh about geomimicry and its implications for sustainability.
Trending: Nike, Native Shoes Projects Helping Shoe Industry Tread Lighter
Earlier this month, Nike announced the winners of its Circular Innovation Challenge, which called for new products using Nike Grind — Nike's ground-up post-factory and post-consumer materials — and new technologies to advance footwear recycling.